Bunner's Bake Shop

Neighbourhood: Bloor West / Annex · Address: 248 Dupont St, Toronto, ON (also Kensington Market location) · Hours: Wed–Sun 9am–5pm | Closed Mon–Tue · Price Range: $ · Phone: (647) 350-2975

Why Visit

Bunner's serves gluten-free and vegan cinnamon buns that actually taste satisfying — chewy, sticky, and not just an imitation. It's a spot where people with dietary restrictions won't feel like they're settling.

What Makes It Unique

Plenty of Toronto bakeries claim gluten-free or vegan, but Bunner's recipes were developed from scratch to mimic the texture and flavour of classic treats. The cinnamon bun is a highlight, but even their cupcakes pass the taste-test with non-vegan, non-GF folks — that's rare. All baking is done in a 100% gluten-free facility, so there’s true safety for celiac customers.

Bunner’s Bake Shop is one of those Toronto places that sounds niche on paper and then ends up making a lot of people rethink what “good bakery” means. It’s a fully gluten-free, fully vegan bakery, but that label doesn’t really prepare you for the fact that the desserts are actually good on their own terms, not just “good for vegan” or “good for gluten-free.” If you’ve spent any time around Toronto dessert debates, you’ll know how rare that is. Bunner’s doesn’t trade on substitutes and apologies. It just makes buns, cookies, cupcakes, brownies, bars, and cakes that people line up for because they taste right.

The thing to go for first is the classic cinnamon bun, because that’s the item that tells you immediately whether a bakery understands proportion. Bunner’s version is properly soft without turning gummy, sweet without becoming cloying, and sticky in the way a cinnamon bun should be. The dough has enough structure to hold together, but it still pulls apart in warm, tender layers. The filling is generous and evenly distributed, so you get cinnamon and brown sugar all the way through instead of a dry middle with a sugary edge. The glaze lands in that sweet spot too: enough to make the top glossy and a little messy, but not so much that it turns into soup. If you’re used to gluten-free baked goods that feel like a compromise, this is usually the item that changes your mind first. It’s the benchmark for a reason.

The best time to get the cinnamon bun is earlier in the day, especially on a weekend morning when the tray is fresh and the texture is at its best. There’s a difference between a bun that’s just been set out and one that’s been sitting around longer, and at a place like Bunner’s you notice it quickly. Go in expecting some buzz. People pop in for coffee and a box to take home, but there are also plenty of regulars who come in with a very specific order and don’t really need to look at the menu anymore. You’ll often see a mix of office workers grabbing something sweet on a break, parents picking up treats that won’t trigger allergies, and the Toronto vegan crowd who already know the good order before they reach the counter. It’s not a sit-and-linger bakery in the way some cafés are. It’s more of a get-in, choose carefully, and feel smug on the way out kind of place.

The cupcakes are another strong reason to stop by, especially the chocolate salted caramel one, which works because it doesn’t try too hard. A lot of bakery cupcakes are too tall, too sweet, or too loaded with frosting, as if the point is to impress at first glance rather than actually eat well. Bunner’s keeps the flavours clear. The chocolate comes through as chocolate, not just “brown cake,” and the salted caramel element gives it enough depth to keep each bite from flattening out. The salt matters. It keeps the sweetness in check and makes the whole thing feel more deliberate. If you’ve got a friend who says vegan desserts are “fine, but not as good,” this is a good item to hand them.

The brownies are worth attention too, because brownies are the easiest place for a bakery to reveal its limits. Too cakey, and you know the texture is off. Too dry, and you know they’re trying to get by on cocoa alone. Bunner’s brownies tend to land in the dense, fudgy range with enough moisture to feel satisfying but not so much that they collapse. They’re the kind of brownie you buy because it sounds practical to also have one for later, and then you end up finishing it earlier than planned. If you’re choosing one thing to bring home for a group, brownies are the safest bet because they hold up well and don’t need any extra explanation. They’re not trying to be clever. They just work.

What makes Bunner’s different from a lot of the competition in Toronto is that it doesn’t hide behind the fact that it’s accommodating dietary restrictions. Plenty of places will make a vegan cookie that’s basically there to be acceptable, or a gluten-free cake that’s respectable in a small-print kind of way. Bunner’s is more confident than that. You can tell the recipes were built to be desserts first, not workaround projects. That’s why people who don’t personally avoid gluten or dairy still come back. The shop has also been around long enough that it doesn’t feel like a novelty anymore. It’s part of the city’s dessert landscape now, which matters because Toronto has plenty of places that open with a lot of attention and then never really become reliable. Bunner’s is reliable. That’s a much bigger compliment than it sounds like.

The space itself is casual and straightforward, which fits the operation. Don’t expect a fancy café setup or a place designed for long laptop sessions. It’s more of a compact bakery stop where the display case does most of the talking. The energy changes depending on the time of day. Early on, it feels calm and efficient, with people making quick choices and staff moving through the lineup without much fuss. By late morning and into the afternoon, especially on weekends, it gets busier and a little more purposeful. People know what they want, but they still scan the case because the temptation is real. There’s that moment where someone says they only came for one cinnamon bun and then leaves with a cupcake, a brownie, and maybe a cookie “for later.” Later usually doesn’t happen.

If you’re visiting from out of town, the practical move is simple: go earlier than you think you need to, and don’t assume your favourite item will still be there if you show up casually near closing. Freshness matters here more than polish. If you want the best shot at a warm or just-baked bun, aim for the weekend morning rush window rather than late afternoon. If you’re sensitive to crowds, go on a weekday when the pace is more relaxed and you can actually ask questions without feeling like you’re holding up the line. Also, if you’re picking things up for people with allergies or mixed dietary needs, this is one of the few places where you don’t have to overthink who can eat what. That alone makes it useful in a city where group dessert plans can turn into a negotiation.

The neighbourhood context is part of the appeal too. The Dupont location sits in a part of Toronto that feels practical and unshowy rather than polished for tourists, which suits Bunner’s well. You’re close enough to the Annex and not far from the flow of people heading through the west end, so the customer base is a real mix of students, neighbourhood regulars, and people who’ve come specifically because they’ve heard the bakery can handle vegan and gluten-free baking without making it taste like a compromise. The Kensington Market location adds a different flavour to the whole thing, since that area already attracts people looking for alternative food options and casual, walk-around snacking. In both cases, Bunner’s fits into the city’s everyday rhythm instead of trying to stand apart from it.

What I’d say, honestly, is that Bunner’s is at its best when you treat it like a bakery you trust rather than a place you go once for the novelty. That’s when it becomes useful. It’s where you send the friend who says vegan desserts are always dry. It’s where you go when someone in your group can’t have gluten and you don’t want them to end up with the sad afterthought dessert. It’s where you stop when you want something sweet that doesn’t taste like it was engineered for a special diet first and flavor second. The best strategy is to keep it simple: get the cinnamon bun if you’ve never been, add a brownie or cupcake if you’re taking things home, and go early if you want the fullest selection. There can be waits, and yes, popular items do sell through, especially when the weather is decent and people are out running errands or heading to the neighbourhood for the day. But the line moves, the staff know what they’re doing, and the payoff is that rare dessert shop where the first bite actually lives up to the reputation.

For Toronto, that matters. We’ve got no shortage of bakeries that look good in photos and plenty that are fine if you want something sweet with coffee. Bunner’s earns its place because it keeps delivering the same thing: desserts that are not just “good for vegan and gluten-free,” but genuinely good, full stop. That’s why people come back. That’s why the cinnamon bun gets talked about like a reference point. And that’s why, if you’re planning a dessert stop in the city, this is one of the few places where I’d tell you to build the rest of your day around the bakery, not the other way around.